You should always be researching, and you should always be researching and learning. Learn new tricks from experienced bloggers, and use the different techniques ExploringBits and strategies that you have learned. Improving your skills and incorporating new ways will keep you above your competition.
Use social media for blog promotion, but don't overwhelm your visitors with too much. If all of your Twitter posts are simply ads for your blog, then they will be ignored. Include independent, but try to make sure the bulk of your postings are quality content that stand on their own.
Social media sites offer wonderful opportunities to increase traffic to your site attract more visitors. Social media sites are the most recent way for people to interact online, and if you ignore those sites, you are ignoring loads of possible traffic for your blog.